Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva banned for doping, ROC loses Olympic gold: CAS

Lausanne – Teenage Russian skater Kamila Valieva received a four-year ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Jan 29 for failing a doping test before the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The three-member panel in sport’s highest court said: “A period of four years’ ineligibility is imposed on Ms Valieva, starting on Dec 25, 2021.

“All competitive results of Ms Valieva from Dec 25, 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences (including forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, profits, prizes, and appearance money).”

Valieva was just 15 when she tested positive, raising questions not just about her guilt and the Russian Olympic system after the Sochi Winter Games of 2014 but also how she was treated as a minor, the way the test was conducted and the value of the drug involved for enhancing performance.

The case came to CAS following Valieva’s exoneration by a disciplinary commission from Russia’s anti-doping agency (Rusada). The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the International Skating Union (ISU) then appealed against the ruling, as did Rusada itself.

Three CAS judges met in Lausanne in September to hear the case, with Valieva and some of the experts and witnesses taking part via videoconferencing.

At the Beijing Games, Valieva became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition, helping Russia secure gold in the team event. The United States took silver, with Japan getting the bronze and Canada placing fourth.

The next day, she was told she had tested positive for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat chest pain but banned for athletes.

Her team have said the positive test, collected at the Russian national championships in December 2021, could have been due to a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication.

Under the pressure of suspicion and attention, Valieva cracked in the individual event in Beijing, stumbling four times in the long programme and finishing in tears as she tumbled from first to fourth.

At the end of the year, Rusada’s disciplinary commission ruled that Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive test.

From the start, the case has presented a dilemma. Valieva’s age, 15 at the time, should have guaranteed her confidentiality under Wada rules for “protected persons” younger than 16. But her display in the Olympic team event had already drawn worldwide attention.

The ISU is raising the lower age limit for its senior category from 15 to 17 from 2024, citing the “physical, mental and emotional health” of competitors. AFP, REUTERS